Wide Wide Open

Exodus 12:33-36

The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. For they said, "We shall all be dead." So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders. The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.

Again, I want to commend to you the absolutely outstanding radio programming of "Issues, Etc." I’m going to be traveling a few hours in the car to an event for my grandson today, and Sue and I will be listening to “on-demand” programming from Issues, Etc.

The host is Pastor Todd Wilken, and he is assisted by his producer Jeff Schwarz. They are teamed up to make what I say without qualification is the finest Christian (and truly Lutheran) broadcasting anywhere. Hands down!

Three years ago thousands of people, world-wide, were dismayed at the cancellation of Issues, Etc. during Holy Week, but blessedly it has continued independently with listener support. That support is vital.

But I remember something very much worth noting three years ago. Immediately attached to the announcement of concrete plans to take to the air again was a financial accountability page, detailing the costs for studio, salaries, insurance, air time, and so forth. I remember thinking, “Good for them!”

Not only would the show be independent and free and open to speak Christ-centered, cross-focused programming, the whole operation would be, and has continued to be, utterly transparent. No slinking or slight of hand.

We get into trouble whenever we start sneaking around.

I'm not talking here about pastoral confidentiality or keeping the Eighth Commandment by shielding others from exposure if you know their secrets. The Bible clearly says, "Love covers over a multitude of sins." (1 Peter 4:8) There are certain matters which care, propriety, and love must keep concealed for the sake of Christian love and the spiritual welfare of others.

But I'm talking about the clear-eyed, heads-up, shoulders-squared, daylight frankness of being a Christian. That is what is so great about Issues, Etc. And it is the privilege given to all of us to be visibly and candidly Christian.

When God led his people Israel out of Egypt, they didn't sneak out. They didn't have to steal away supplies for their journey. God saw to them getting plenty. They didn't have to connive an escape. They walked out in broad daylight.

The Exodus is an illustration of God's delivery of his holy church out of the darkness of sin into the bright light of freedom through Christ.

God's church is not a secret society like Freemasonry or the Priory of Sion nonsense in The Da Vinci Code.

We Christians have the whole world to tell about the wonders of Christ and the liberty he has won for us. The Gospel is not meant for undertones and whispers. It is for announcing and publicizing far and wide. Christians have the right to be bold and real and vocal.

I liked it when Don Wackerly would walk into my office without knocking. It means he felt as comfortable here as walking into a room of his own home. The church is his home. And what do I have to hide? That's the way it should always be in the church: Lights on. Doors open. Arms wide. Singing thunderously.

Israel didn't skulk out of Egypt or apologize for asking the Egyptians for provisions. If the wealth had not come from them, God would have supplied it from somewhere else. As it was, the scaredy-cat Egyptians were the ones who dove for cover.

A Christian motto should be: Go for it! Speak up! And step lively.

We are free to speak the wondrous truth of the Gospel of Jesus. Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim!

Now certainly, if a pastor needs privacy for a confidential visit, he can secure that. But I wish all our people would regard the relationship they have with each other, with their pastor, and with the world as openly and candidly as our Christian freedom allows.

Jesus didn't sneak around, did he? He didn't duck for cover or keep his intentions narrow. He told his disciple, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation." (Mark 16:15)

It is that good news which shines like the sun. The good news that God has worked salvation for us through the life and death of his Son is a full-throated message. The good news is public and open and free.

As soon as the church begins to hedge, hide, or tiptoe around, it doesn't augur well. It's never good when someone in a church says something hush-hush in a clandestine conversation they won't openly and honestly declare to all.

No congregation can bear back-door dealings, monkeying around with funds, or conspiratorial methods. I thank God when he spares us these evils at Grace. But the devil (who is the sneaky one) would have it otherwise.

His plans are foiled by shining the light of Christ Jesus on everything we are and have. Like the children of Israel leaving Egypt, we may freely receive all that God has given us and travel in light and freedom, promulgating the glory of Christ—wide, wide open!

How Sweet to Think on Him

Exodus 28:1-5

The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me-practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

In his first epistle, St. Peter says, "Prepare your minds for action." That sounds like some sort of military motto, doesn't it? Something like "clear the decks" or the boy scout slogan, "Be prepared."

But isn't the mind already active? One would think the mind is the most lively part of our being. Even a couch potato who may not move his limbs or posterior much still is thinking. Isn't his mind limber at least?

When we wake up in the morning, even though the body may not want to move, our thoughts can immediately race with worries, interests, or concerns. And doesn't the mind stay active all day long receiving stimuli and leaping from one subject to another like a gymnast?

So what's this "prepare your minds for action" thing mean in the Bible? With our minds already darting from one thing to another all the time, is this instruction to prepare minds for action a bit pointless?

Actually, the language St. Peter uses comes from a very physical action—not just a mental twist. The King James Bible translates Peter's charge this way, "Gird up the loins of your mind." It's a graphic - and yes, rather military image. It meant that you gather up your long flowing robe or coat and see to it that you don't let it entangle those limbs of yours. It means you are to be ready to act without encumbrance, without obstacles in your life.

In work or warfare, in your vocation or whatever, impediments to our holy Christian life are many. How easily we become entangled. Emotions get knotted up; thoughts confused; the heart indecisive; behavior hemming and hawing. That's no way to live.

An entangled soldier is bound to be a casualty. And a Christian will be tripped and trapped if he comes under the persuasion of what is so much of today's popular religious legalism. Religion by rules is often couched in pious sounding language, like unleashing the power of faith, discovering the abundant life, determining your God-given purpose, controlling your weaknesses, sowing your seed, letting God be God in your life, being the person God made you to be.

But be clear in your mind whether or not it all comes back to just a mess of more steps to take, decisions to make, heights to achieve, and works to weave, just a further tangle of expectations we can never carry off.

The most dangerous preaching is that which cannot rightly divide Law and Gospel. And against this St. Peter does more than caution. He gives us Christ. The Gospel leaves nothing to the imagination, nothing for your mind to devise or your wits to concoct.

The lucid, simple, freeing Gospel is that Jesus Christ has swept away all barriers, all falsehood, and all sin. His blood covers confusions and transforms the fearful. He speaks His peace and pardon so that the thoughts of every heart may be enlightened and invigorated by hope.

Jesus answers racing, fretting thoughts not with a list of principles but with His own Person. Simply put, the mind prepared for action is the mind of Christ. Jesus has it in mind to forgive you—and it isn't just a thought. His action of absolution leaves the conscience washed clean.

Have this in mind today: you are forgiven.

Jesus has it in mind to furnish you with His grace—and it isn't just an idea. His action by the cross and His action in the Supper deliver it. Jesus has it in mind that you be engaged (mind, heart, head and hand) in the vitality of the Kingdom of God. And this isn't just a whim. He lives for you. He thinks of you. He acts for you. He serves for you. He gives his body and blood for you.

How sweet it is to think on that—on Him.

Centripetal Power of the Cross

Acts 4:18-20

So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard."

As a kid I remember going to an amusement park and riding the "Whirlpool." It wasn't very safe by today's standards, but it sure was fun.

The ride essentially involved centrifugal force. Kids would step down into a cylindrical "tub" which basically looked like a big round washing machine. The "whirlpool" would then begin to turn.

As speed increased, riders were pressed against the outer wall. Eventually the floor would drop away as everybody "stuck" to the wall like flies to flypaper. You could try and throw off your baseball cap, but it would just fly back and stick also.

After becoming sufficiently sick to our stomachs with dizziness, the floor would slowly return, spinning would decrease to a stop, and we'd all go weaving down the exit ramp only to do it all over again.

Forces in nature have a strong influence. Electromagnetism, gravity, friction, and weather are not easily resisted by any of us. In the whirlpool, an Olympic athlete would be as helpless as a 98-lb weakling. Gravity, as Galileo demonstrated from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, will bring a bowling ball to the ground just as fast as a ball bearing.

Spiritual forces are strong too.

Opponents of the Gospel of Christ call on forces of intimidation, fear, and threat to silence and kowtow Christians. Such forces are real even if they don't outwardly look that imposing.

More deplorable is the extent of our weakness.

A young girl in a courtyard once identified Peter as a follower of Jesus. All she said was, "This fellow was with Jesus." A petite, inconsequential young girl by a single remark revealed how spineless a grown man can be. Peter denied his Lord.

She didn't reduce this big, strapping, manly guy into a weakling. He already was one and just didn't know it.

The threshold is so low in our sinfulness. The slightest pressure, the least duress—often the smallest possibility of peril will shove us against a wall and convince us that anything we toss out by way of forgiveness or forbearance will just come back at us, so why try?

As the sinful world spins, the centrifugal force of evil continually wants to direct us outward from the center, away from where the hub and heart of life is. Away from Christ.

What can be so strong to draw powerless men back? What can be so strong to overcome the elemental defects and weaknesses of sin in us?

In Acts 4, probably some of the same temple guards who had arrested Jesus now come to bully Peter and John. Other imposing, powerful men command the apostles never to speak or teach in the name of Jesus ever again. The threat is real. Our preferred word for such a thing today is "terror."

But Peter and John reply, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."

What they had seen was Christ in the flesh, the spear scar and the nail marks visible, yet He was risen. They had seen the Lord of Glory ascend to the heavens. They had seen God the Holy Spirit like tongues of fire rest upon their heads. They had seen three thousand baptized on a single day in the name of Jesus.

They had heard Jesus declare, "Peace be with you! Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven." Jesus too had promised them, "I will be with you always to the very end of the age."

They heard the sound of the rushing wind on Pentecost, the sound of a myriad of languages all proclaiming the wonders of God. (Acts 2). It was a miracle. No one was kept from hearing the glorious Gospel of Christ that day. No force on earth nor any force of foul spirit can restrain the sound of Jesus' Name.

Peter said we cannot help but speak of Christ.

By this he doesn't mean to explain himself as simply a powerless pawn in an agitation cycle between good and evil. The work of the Holy Spirit is not just to "stir" people up into spiritual fever. Peter and John were as steady and confident as men can be.

They had the solid floor beneath them!

They stood upon the Gospel, and it was now the centripetal power of the resurrection, the drawing influence of the truth of Jesus, and the magnetic authenticity of His victory which made them unassailable because nothing can silence the Word of God.

We confess too. We can't help it. We can't help the Gospel.

Luther once said, "I simply taught, preached, wrote God's Word; otherwise I did nothing. And then, while I slept, or drank Wittenberg beer with my Philip and my Amsdorf, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that never a prince or emperor did such damage to it. I did nothing. The Word did it all."

What did Peter or John ever do except receive this wonderful gift of Christ and then have the privilege to share their Savior with others? What have we ever done except be given God's pardon, life, peace, and love? We couldn't help it.

And now, by His Holy Spirit, how can we help but speak the things we also know?

To speak and live the life of a Christian today--- by the world's standards may not be very safe. But it sure is fun!

There is nothing like the drawing power--- the centripetal power of the cross!

Drawn to the cross, which Thou hast blessed

With healing gifts for souls distressed,

To find in Thee my life, my rest,

Christ crucified, I come.

Wash me and take away each stain;

Let nothing of my sin remain.

For cleansing, though it be through pain,

Christ crucified, I come.

And then for work to do for Thee,

Which shall so sweet a service be

That angels well might envy me,

Christ crucified, I come.

LSB 560 (vs. 1, 3-4)

Men You Can Trust

Philippians 2:19-30

I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me. And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon.

But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs. For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety. Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor men like him, because he almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for the help you could not give me.

It has been said no sermon is complete until lived out in the lives of God's people. By such a measure a twenty minute sermon is too short.

The perennial rag on pastors is the question of how long a sermon should last, but that depends on what you mean. There are those who would say a sermon should go on indefinitely. Living the Word is not twenty minute employment.

Hearing and responding are both the result of God the Holy Spirit moving us in faith toward action. It is only tedious because it is so important. The Bible says St. Paul once talked so long-all night in fact-that one young fellow dropped asleep on a window ledge, fell out of the third floor and died from the fall (Acts 20:9).

Mercifully, the Lord miraculously brought young Eutychus back to life, but you wonder how St. Paul would otherwise explain his interminably long talking. He didn't exactly choose the easiest time or duration for it.

Of course, it's not the length but the substance which matters. Paul preached Christ. "Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." (Eph. 3:8) (Also 2 Cor. 4:5 "We do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.; 1 Cor. 1:23, "We preach Christ crucified." 2:2, "I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.")

Timothy and Epaphroditus were men who said "Amen" to the preaching of Paul with Christian lives of devotion, risk, stress, service and self-sacrifice. Their "amen" was to work for the Gospel (v. 22), care for the needs of others (v. 25), and help where others could not (v. 30).

St. Paul commended these men. Of Timothy, he said, "I have no one else like him," and "He takes a genuine interest in your welfare." Paul's intention was to use Timothy, to employ this young man because someone who listens well will also serve well. Those two things must inexorably go together.

Listening without responding is vacuous. Work without faith is barren.

St. James wrote in his epistle (1:22-25), "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it-- he will be blessed in what he does."

Of Epaphroditus (I wonder if anybody nicknamed him "Epie"), the apostle said, "He almost died for the work of Christ." What a precious example. You can bet he didn't limit his time with Jesus to 20 minutes.

Paul commended these men, Timothy and Epaphroditus.

By "commend" I don't mean mere compliments or flattery. Paul sent these fellows to the churches as men who could be trusted. They would take a job when asked. Their greatest interest was in the concerns of Christ, not their own pursuits and pastimes.

They were men of Christ because our Lord is involved and full of life. He works.

Jesus once said, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." (John 5:17) Up at the crack of dawn, even after a previously exhausting day, Jesus would work at his prayers. Then he would hustle along. "Let us go somewhere else-to the nearby villages-so I can preach there also. (Mark 1:38) Jesus preached the kingdom of God. He preached, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." (Mt. 4:17). He preached, "--good news to the poor - freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind- and the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18)

Jesus also lived what he preached. I don't know how many minutes the "Sermon on the Mount" lasted but Christ's behavior, His life and service was the living sermon just as your work and charity are a confession of Him.

You can trust someone whose creeds and deeds harmonize when the core of both is Christ.

That's why Paul urged the church to welcome, respect, and trust guys like Timothy and Epaphroditus. It was the Word and Spirit of Christ which moved them. The church has always needed more men and women like them. That was true in Paul's time because he sadly observed, (v.21), "For everyone looks out for his own interests." Self-interest remains an affliction in our modern world.

So, how grateful we are for those servants in the church today who believe the Gospel has positive consequences and who live what they hear proclaimed.

These are the folks you trust with your life.

We have trusted Jesus with our lives because He has put them above His own. We have trusted Jesus with our lives, not because he "almost died" for us-but because He really did die for us.

So, let us indeed always trust Jesus not only with our ears and hearts but also with our hands and backs and shoulders to show that we really have heard the Good News preached to us. And so, through Christ, be a Timothy or an Epie to others.

Triple Glory

Psalm 96

Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary. Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come into his courts. Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth. Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns." The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity. Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; they will sing before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth.

On our honeymoon, Sue and I saw a sunset you cannot describe in words. We've never seen one like it since. Yes, it was our honeymoon, but that added nothing to the splendor we saw that day in June 1972 crossing western Nebraska after a huge thunder storm.

We were young and broke. Our car had been battered by ferocious wind, hail, lightning, and jet black skies for a stretch of miles west of Grand Island, but you could have given us a million bucks, a brand new car, and choirs of angels, I suppose, and it wouldn't have added one iota to the majesty of that sunset on the other side of the storm.

To the southwest it looked like a painting off the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo. To the northwest was a "western sky" of radiant, rioting colors you didn't even know existed; and straight ahead of us were, well, towering clouds of unspeakable majesty.

It was like three glorious sunsets in one. We couldn't wait even for an off ramp. Along with other cars here and there, we just pulled over to the side of Interstate-80, got out and gawked.

Looking back to the east a perfectly formed double rainbow of jaw dropping beauty crossed the horizon from tip to tip.

I took some Kodachrome slides with an old Pentax 35mm camera. They didn't touch it.

How much less our capacity to capture God.

How deficient is any description of His splendor and the majesty which exceeds the glory of the heavens. What superlatives can we use to speak of the greatness of the Lord!

The Psalmist sings of God's glory, splendor, majesty, and strength--that He is worthy of praise.

Not just from mankind.

"Let the heavens rejoice." "Let the earth be glad." "Let the sea resound, and all within it." "Let the fields be jubilant." "All the trees of the forest sing for joy." I might add for sunsets and rainbows, let their symphony also declare the greatness of the Lord.

They sure do!

But you and I have a unique privilege beyond the language of roaring seas, jubilant fields, and blazing sunsets. It is ours to "proclaim his salvation day after day." (v. 2).

It might be another 39 years before Sue and I see another sunset like we did in '72. Maybe we'll never see the likes of it this side of heaven. But along with you, God's people of Grace we sing of the salvation of the Lord every single day.

Trees of the forest sing for joy, but no tree (except the tree of the cross) expresses the Gospel the way a Christian can as he confesses the Word of God every day.

We tell of God's salvation in ways that no phenomena in nature can do—no matter how spectacular.

We speak of Christ. We repeat daily the glorious news of sins forgiven. Every morning we rise to life again through Baptism and every evening are granted the Lord's peace and benediction.

The mercies of Christ are spectacular in their equity and truth.

Psalm 96 calls us to worship which is nothing less than to receive the marvelous gifts of the Lord.

The worship of God's people before the Lord is held in the presence of His holiness, His goodness, His charity, and the dignity of His Name. The grandeur is in nothing we bring. No one can improve the perfection of Christ in Word and Sacrament. The Son of Righteousness doesn't need a touch up or some fresh design.

The Divine Service does not need to be reinvented for the 21st century or aired out like an old blanket.

Shame on me if ever I think there isn't enough excitement or appeal in God's means of grace, forgetting from 1 Corinthians 1:27-31 that God uses the lowly and "foolish" things (like ordinary water, bread, and wine) so that no flesh should glory in his presence. Shame also on me if I ever think my own sophistication or elegance—or ritual for its own sake—is enough to paint God.

No. He does all for us through Word and Sacrament of His own accord.

Great is the Lord. Period.

The gods of the nations are idols. This includes all enhancements, add-ons, improvements or supplements man may try to "spice up" the church.

Instead, let's just pull over to the side of the road, get out of the old clunker in which we've been batted around through the week, stand in the fresh air of the Gospel, glory in the Name of Christ, and revel in how magnificently good our God is to us through His Son.

There isn't a solitary thing we can add to the wonder of His salvation.

The storm is past. His promises, like rainbows, stretch from horizon to horizon and there is nothing but beauty ahead.

Aren't we blessed!

Victimae Paschali

All I Need to Know

Ezekiel 38:45b

And the name of the city from that time on shall be, THE LORD IS THERE.

Ezekiel often seems a bewildering prophesy. A book unlikely to be your first choice when turning to Holy Scripture, the language is mysterious and often hard to make out.

It is a perplexing testament of parables and visions which speak to the sadness of Israel's apostasy and the guilt which brought God's people to exile and captivity in Babylon.

The prophet hammers the nations for being enemies of God's people, but Israel herself is even more blameworthy for having pastors and leaders and people who have deserted the Lord.

Ezekiel's language is not easy to read. Much is unfathomable and harsh.

But when the prophet begins to describe in the later chapters the new temple with its precision, beauty, majesty and peace, it leaves Bible students even more mystified.

Here were people whose downfall was profound. They had no right to expect anything but the utter destruction of their land, homes, cities, and lives. Immersed in a foul culture of idols and rebellion against God, they defiled everything good and godly.

How could any comforting word belong in this scene?

And yet, into the chaos of sin and indignity, comes a Word of such exquisite care and surprise that it exceeds comprehension.

Good news is proclaimed. Jerusalem will be restored to unsurpassed glory. Dry bone will come to life again. The priesthood will be pure and sacrifices perfect. The new temple is exquisite.

And all this is delivered in impenetrable language which leaves even the most brilliant scholar or astute intellect in awe.

But skip to the very end of this colossal prophecy and all we need to know is revealed.

What even a child can grasp is stated in the simplest reassurance.

"And the name of the city from that time on will be: THE LORD IS THERE."

This explains the marvel of redemption. This explains the restoration of a land and people utterly stripped and scattered. This explains the emancipation from sin, the resurrection of the dead, and the promise of peace. This is what resolves the enigma of how a destitute people who pollute their land and poison their own souls can live again.

THE LORD IS THERE.

When you and I cannot explain or justify how we continue to sin, the herald of Good News announces THE LORD IS THERE as your Savior. When you and I grieve over the finality and fearsomeness of death, the messenger of the Gospel declares THE LORD IS THERE.

When you and I feel loss and sorrow and shame, the bearer of the Sacrament points to the simple elements of bread and wine and affirms THE LORD IS THERE.

When you and I, in the midst of things we cannot understand, yearn for a Rescuer, a preacher of the cross points to Jesus and says THE LORD IS THERE.

When you or I stare into an inscrutable future and wonder, "What shall become of me," the Holy Scriptures reveals this unshakable truth: THE LORD IS THERE.

It has often been observed that the older we get the more we realize how little we know. The wisest man confesses he is but a child.

There is a story about a world-renowned theologian who, in a setting among fellow scholars, was asked what he considered the most profound theological statement of his time and he said, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."

So, when you puzzle over your future, grieve over your sins, weep over losses, or tremble at how little you know, take comfort.

THE LORD IS THERE.